In the early morning of November 13, Beijing time, media reported on Wednesday that a Patek Philippe gold watch set a record price of 21.3 million US dollars (about 130 million yuan) in an auction in Switzerland on Tuesday, making it the most expensive and complicated watch in the world.
This hand-made Patek Philippe chronometer named 'Henry graves supercompaction' was made in 1925 by New York banker Henry Griffith and named after him. Its auction was also the main event at the jewelry and watch auction in Geneva.
The watch weighs more than half a kilogram and is made up of 900 individual parts. The estimated minimum price is $15 million. But after the frenzied bidding, the price went up, and the final transaction price was described by Sotheby's as' a new world record '. The winning anonymous bidder will pay a total price of $24 million, including commission.
Patek Philippe spent five years to make the watch, and Henry graves was permanently engraved on the dial.
Tim Bourne, global head of watch auction at Sotheby's, said the auction confirmed the watch's' superstar status'. He described the watch as' a symbol of the 20th century, a masterpiece of the master who sublimated the art of watchmaking '.
Some industry experts said before the auction that this timepiece is not just an expensive decoration. The expert said: 'it's not a watch you can wear, but a symbol of power, power and money. '
This Patek Philippe watch not only shows the time, but also the perpetual calendar, moon phase, star hour, sunrise and sunset time, and even the night sky changes in Manhattan. This watch rings the Westminster bell every 15 minutes to tell the time.
The watch appeared at Sotheby's auction in December 1999, when the time Museum in Rockford, Illinois, went bankrupt and sold its entire collection, including the watch. At that time, the auction price was $11 million.
On Tuesday, 368 hour meters were shot with it. Sotheby's and rival Christie's are both holding traditional jewelry auctions this week.